The Hawaiian gazette., 1887-02-08
The E-upti,,r Of 1865

---A "a Acl-> AClL tue cANl OF the nreS-
ert eruption vii be Of considerable
interest . our readers. II Is taken
non Captain buttons work on Ha
v-aua1 Volcanoes II VII be noticed
-EEc the speed az which the lava then
travelled was very much greater than
thai q The present few. Captain Dut
Ton says:
Before sunrise on the morning OF
ne 27th Of ATsrch. ISSS, people resld-
-1C upon the northwestern and west
er1 parts q the island Observed great
cloud q smoke C- vapor suddenly
shoot upwards from the summit Of
Msrra L1a 70 an immense altitude,
illuminated bv the glare Of extensive
fires ha-as-L After continuing TO
ascend for about an hour /. was Oh
served uLs- smoke or vapoy assembled
E-1- several points below. along q line
stretching >JutLweSrvari from the
summit SON after sunrise the entire
mountain became Cbscured by the or
--- trade wind clouds. and the
whole scene was shut from view. The
following night became clear. but.
when the clouds had left. no trace Of
volcanic action was visible. Early n
TIE day following March - began g
SzEsS q esrJhg uakeS. which gradually
became more frequent. ana lasted for
G ue-lli Of TWO weeks. The number
u shocks could be reck0ned only by
thousands. the most violent Of which
5eeurre6 on the d q April. For
hours together the earth was II con
s-s-r t-euor. with now and then s
shock q exceptional violence. At
shout 3 O'Clock pm on the ID Of April.
6 u-oilE-0us earthquake shook the
southern part Of the island with ter
-r-a rl1- a-ca. and was felt with con
siderable force throughout the entire
--5-p u Islands Houses were over
---1w- 81 shaken down II ruins. Men
and beasts were thrown upwards and
u--S-are6- Trees swayed 10 and fro
Ike reeds IN the wind. and G series Of
waves reversed the land. the earth
1ue-z-- IN wide cracks on the crest OF
the wave and closing together IN the
-c--L. Il was At this time that the
great uu6-6ow already described took
PLACE a hapspala. The southern
east o. the island sank from two to
eight feet II different places along an
extent Of 90 miles 4 mighty wave
rolling II ron the sea-Its crest
reschl1g above the eOeosnut trees
UPON TIE coast. and sweeping inland
= distance varying from half mile
. -vO miles-carried everything be
fore i In the space OF g very few
minutes eighty human beings, IN
vz-v scantily inhabited country, met
violent death. Hundreds Of animals
usrlsLad. and every structure was
shaken from It's foundations Still
the shocks continued with great fre-
/. cuezcv until the Sth OF April, or g
week after the great shock occurred
l. vas not until the It'll Of April how
ever. that the great eruption took
rlaca- About I o'clock III the evening
! great column Of fire suddenly shot
upward UI11 the southwestern slope OF
Mzu-s La g g point situated about
27lg feet shove the sea In q very
SL-r- tine the air was thick with va
p1r. wL-cL g-Jwed with an intense
i-l- derived from the great fountains
u lava beneath These fountains
were s5ruscei along q Essure. occupy
M about 6 mile Of It's length and IN
-srruptei only BY short intervals One
great sheet Of fiery liquid, Judging
ron present appearances, must have
been upwards q 2.000 feet II length.
ranging Up and down the mountain
-plr the brink OF the cliff. which has
already been described The lava was
poured forth with immense rapIdIty
and II enormous volumes In little
over Two hours Il had reached the sea.
ron ten 70 eleven miles distant On
- way Il spread out into numerous
streams the largest Of which lay at
the base OF the long fsulted cliff al
ready spoken Of. Al some parts OF Its
course the lava ran with 3 velocity
which was estimated By some OF the
spectators 70 have exceeded fifteen
niles per hour. and the estimated We
l0ci-y = probably not too great The
streams a. present cover G space from
Two 70 three miles IN width. including
however. between them several narrow
places which were not oTerfOwed-
Most q the lava Is pahoehoe, though
here and there are some considerable
stretches q a. notably al the termin-
stiozs q the several branches OF the
1Cx. Al Of Il Is olivinitic 70 an ex-
irene. and individual specimens can
Be- selected containing large grains or \
-odules II olITin. which constitute
more than half the mass Of the lava I
The duration Of this outbreak was
exceptionally short, for 1t lasted only
about four days. The quantity Of /.
material elected was many times /
smaller than that from any Of the {
erupGo1s q 1855. 1859. or 1881. Al (
though It was no doubt. many times
greater than the largest eruption I
which vas ever known 10 come from i
Nesuuus
D